I just sent a PM to another member pointing to another Thailand related forum (yes THAT one), it arrived with

<URL Automatically Removed>

instead of the link.

So, are all links banned from PMs or just certain ones?

I thought I was doing the right thing by transmitting the info in a PM and not on the open forum where the slightest mention of THAT forum is frowned upon and a link would be instantly removed (lnks to other forums are not permitted anyway).

Not criticising policy or anything like that but I thought Private (or is it Personal) Messages were just that (Private or Personal) and the content is my business.

The way the board software works, is that a banned word/phrase/URL can be replaced with a message such as "<url automatically removed>". This happens universally, regardless of if it's a PM or in public. This is done by the software itself, not moderators so your privacy is safe.

I never had any doubt that it was automatic. Besides there's never anything particularly controversial in my PMs, I keep that for email which is (marginally) more secure.

I'm all for the naughty words filter (it does make some interesting choices sometimes though) we are after all a family community, but isn't automatically removing all reference to another Thailand related forum somewhat childish?

If my alter-ego makes a post over there that references Thaivisa.com will they pull the reference in a tit-for-tat exchange? Not going to try it, that would reveal my true identity ????

I know, no discussion of admin or moderation issues, I'll shut up now

When we have problems with SPAMming sites we include those in the spam filter, thats why you sometimes see

"<URL Automatically Removed>"

I recently pointed out the folly in some poor medical advice given by a moderator. Shortly there after that thread was closed.

The moderator that had given the poor medical advice latter sent me a PM givng me an exhaustive explanation on why the medical advice was suposedly correct. Never mind the person of topic died....

And now the PM is mysteriously missing?

Any how, I think the moderators are playing politics. Pretty sad really.

And now the PM is mysteriously missing?

Not clear as to what you mean by 'missing'. Moderators do not have access to any other members PM boxes and as such could not make them 'disappear'.

Any how, I think the moderators are playing politics. Pretty sad really.

Also, I'm sure you are aware of, discussing moderator issues/decisions in public is against forum rules. If you have an issue with a mod, then take it up by PM to him/her or to admin for resolution. And since the topic question has been answered, this is now closed.